


Say Goodbye to your Hair Ties

by Eorcanstan



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort, Emotional, Emotional Iruka, Feelings, Fluff, M/M, Post-War, Reunions, Romatic Kakashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26037481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eorcanstan/pseuds/Eorcanstan
Summary: And then there was Iruka. The breeze changed direction and pushed against his back, pushing him towards the love of his life. The man he'd kept waiting far too long.Kakashi's romance ends with Iruka in tears.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	Say Goodbye to your Hair Ties

Fresh, sweet air filled his lungs and with another deep breath it became more addictive. Tree branches swung in the breeze, practically dancing, and the grass was positively enjoying each splash of sunlight. 

Hatake Kakashi was finally back. 

“I forgot how beautiful Konoha is with two eyes,” he said to himself. And it would be more so, once rebuilt.

The war with Madara, Kaguya, and Obito had taken a hell of a toll on him. Obviously physically but he was more than ready for a long rest from fighting, missions, everything. To forget Kakashi of the Sharingan and just be _Kakashi_ for a little while. 

Most shinobi got to come back a while before him, but diplomatic duty caused him to lag behind. Another reason he hated bureaucracy, but if it meant meandering back down the path of life at his own pace it was fine (just this once). Now it had taken just the right amount of time, just long enough, and he had people to see. 

He couldn’t wait to see Guy’s face when he admitted that the Blue Beast had far surpassed him. Kakashi grinned through his mask. His best friend was a hero amongst heroes, and best of all he was alive! Kakashi really couldn’t wait to see him up and going again and would be there to help every step of the way.

And then there was Iruka. The breeze changed direction and pushed against his back, pushing him towards the love of his life. The man he’d kept waiting far too long. 

Kakashi sighed towards the sky. Iruka had probably left his too-tight ponytail in for too long without Kakashi pulling it out to run his hands through the thick chocolate hair. He resolved to rid the apartment of all hair-ties upon his return. Iruka would be mad but maybe Kakashi asking to find a house together soon would distract him.

Was waking up with him each morning too much to ask?

“Maa, I think I deserve it.”

Kakashi started passing by little houses that touched the outskirts of town and imagined something like that. It might be too far from Ichiraku’s for Iruka’s liking but he’d find a way to get a gardened cottage in the city if it was what he wanted. He’d do anything Iruka asked of his as long as he lived. 

He was already working on it; he was coming home alive.

But speaking of coming home… it would be wrong to show up at Iruka’s apartment empty handed. He took another deep breath and smelled something particularly sweet, and like his hounds he followed his nose.

Closer to the city he found a lovely little house with a lovely little garden of kikyos. Honestly, he knew very little about flowers besides any medicinal purpose but the bell-shaped purple blooms were beautiful. Iruka was beautiful. Kakashi flashed over the fence and back with a handful of them. 

Now he had to figure out where the sensei was.

Iruka was on the hundredth glass of water since he woke up. Well, that was an exaggeration, but since the shinobi of the war started returning he had to find all sorts of ways to distract himself. 

There was only so much filing and organizing to do at the school and in his home so that ran out fast. He was useless when it came to work in the hospital. The Academy had yet to restart classes so that was bust. He tried to practice braiding his hair, but bits would fall out all over the place so he quickly returned to his tidy ponytail. 

So during the day he would help with repairs to the village and getting citizens settled but the evenings and nights were exceptionally lonely. At least some had started to come back but they weren’t the _right_ people.

The right person, specifically. But that just sent him spiralling back into worry and regret. 

_Swallow, swallow, swallow, swallow_. Refill. _Swallow, swallow._

Clouds darkened the skies and Iruka lit the warm lights and a couple candles in his apartment. Keeping out the dark and cold was also a great comfort. He turned on his radio and soft music filled the room, and he refilled his water glass. An old favourite started to play and, forgetting himself, Iruka started dancing, the glass held in two hands.

It took _ages_ for Kakashi to find Iruka. But that was an over-exaggeration. As soon as Kakashi made it to the city he’d jumped onto the roofs and made a bee-line to the bachelor apartments and they had never felt as far away then they did that day. The skies were going dark with incoming rain as the breeze turned into gusts, and Kakashi surged forward at the insistence of the world behind him.

Raindrops splashed on his back and he finally landed on the right rooftop. Dropping down to the balcony he saw a beautiful sight.

 _Fuck_ he’d missed him so much. 

The warm light coming through the window bathed him as the rain all but disappeared from his senses. Iruka was dancing to a song they’d danced to years before, when they had just started being _something_ . The first night Iruka had said _I love you_ and the same first night that Kakashi left the light on when he kissed him. He was too scared to admit he felt the same, but after Pain he said it as much as he could. 

Kakashi watched Iruka lift the glass to his mouth and remembered those soft lips on his. Water spilled down Iruka’s chin and he ached to wipe it off. His hand rose unbeknownst to him in the age old motion he’d done a hundred times. 

He missed that chin, he missed that neck, he missed those lips. 

Kakashi couldn’t feel the rain at all anymore, he was bathed in the light of _Iruka_ and _home_. He was enraptured. Those lips called to him.

One hand clutching the flowers, the other grasping the window, he climbed in. Softly, he landed in the living room area and stood with bated breath. 

Iruka did a final spin as the song wound down and set down the water, which he’d held so carefully that not a drop was spilled. The same way he missed holding and cuddling into the heat of Kakashi.

Kakashi.

“Kakashi?”

Iruka’s legs turned to rubber and he fell to his hands and knees faster than hail falls from the sky. His peripheries went white and framed the body of the man in front of him.

“ _Ka- Kakashi!_ ”

Kakashi hadn’t even _said_ anything and the man in front of him was already falling in heaps of tears. 

Honestly, this would be deeply embarrassing to watch if Kakashi wasn’t so in love with Iruka. He’d imagined a much more romantic, sweet, _quiet_ reunion but… oh well. He took two wide steps towards his sweetheart, looking to comfort him, but also hoping he could maybe speed this up a bit. He wanted to remind Iruka how much he loved him. That every second away he missed him and wanted him. Tears of the past got in the way of the future.

In the meantime he took off his soaked flak jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair, neat as can be. 

Iruka was still crying out his name when he wrapped his arms around Kakashi’s legs, fat tears falling down his face. 

“Kakashi!” He wailed, seeing the jounin for the first time in an eternity, thinking he’d never see him again for another eternity.

“ _Iruka_ ,” Kakashi replied, his voice sing-song and soft as a summer breeze, putting a hand on the top of Iruka’s head. He thumbed over the band holding up his hair.

“Kakashi! Ka- _kashi_!” Iruka couldn’t put sense or order to his words, no matter how much he wanted to. It was horrible. Here was the one and only great love he’d ever have, back from certain death, and it was all going wrong. So much for a sweet reunion; the tears were practically flooding the room. Everything Iruka had planned to say and do the moment they finally met again flew completely out the window.

It made him sob harder, digging his face between Kakashi’s knees and gripping harder at his pant legs. 

“Irukaaaaa,” Kakashi called and watched as Iruka turned his face to the side to take a gasp of air and screw his eyes shut dramatically. 

“Irukaaa,” the jounin ran his fingers gently through the dark ponytail to no effect. 

Okay, enough now.

“Iruka.” He tugged the ponytail downward so teary eyes looked at him instead of the ground. Kakashi put his hands under Iruka’s armpits and hauled him up to his feet. Thankfully Iruka managed to stay up on his own, though Kakashi was prepared to catch him should his legs fail him again. 

Iruka was sniffling and wiping his sleeve over his nose, but at least they were face to face.

Kakashi took a deep breath and smiled beneath his mask. _Time for a little romance_. 

Kakashi presented Iruka with the wilting kikyos, which had endured rain and wind and being jostled around as Kakashi fought to keep balance from Iruka’s passionate physical assault. Seeing the state of them in his hand… he felt a bit like an idiot. Yet somehow that’s exactly how he’d always been, and what had always resulted, when it came to his grand(ish) romantic gestures. 

Iruka thought the same as he looked at them. _Can’t blame him for trying_ , _the idiot_ , and really Iruka knews he was looking at the flowers like they were made of gold and there were thousands of them. Kakashi the Romantic. _His_ Kakashi.

He brought Iruka flowers. He came home alive. Acts meant more than words

“They smelled nice,” Kakashi said, as he pushed them towards the chuunin who was desperately rubbing his eyes to force his tear ducts shut. “And I thought of you.”

Iruka laughed as he grossly snuffed up snot, taking the flowers and plonking them in his water glass after pressing them against his nose. “What a romantic,” he said, facing Kakashi yet looking at anything _but_ him, but he wore a bright, sunny smile none the less. He felt almost shy now, more than a little embarrassed over his reaction and he hadn’t even looked Kakashi properly in the eyes yet. “Welcome home.” 

Kakashi didn’t immediately move to pull down his mask, hesitant, waiting to see if Iruka would have another breakdown probably, so Iruka did it for him. He watched Kakashi’s bottom lip tug down with the fabric. Then his gaze trailed upwards to...

All of time and space halted simultaneously and nothing but them existed when their eyes met. A thousand red threads that bound them tightened and pulled them together like an unstoppable force. 

Their embrace was a tie that could knot countless timelines. They were always meant to be. Iruka tightened his arms around Kakashi’s waist and shoulders with all the strength he had saved for this one specific moment. It pushed the air out of Kakashi’s lungs as they squeezed together, intertwining like the branches of the town they called their home .

Iruka made sure Kakashi had come back in one piece. He counted two legs, two arms, and pulling back a hair’s breadth saw two lips, two ears and.

Two eyes. 

“Y- your… uh…” Oh god, he was back to being speechless. Iruka wanted to beat himself to death. 

“It’s an incredibly long explanation and I’d rather keep saying hello to you.” The jounin held Iruka’s face between two gloved palms and lovingly stroked his thumbs under his eyes. “But for now I’ll tell you that they work really _really_ well. I can see you’re just as gorgeous as you’ve ever been.” 

Kakashi pressed a light, barely-there kiss on Iruka’s blushing cheek while he pulled his gloves off. 

Rid of them, deft fingers pulled Iruka’s hair free and he pushed both hands into it. “You’ve been tying your hair too tight again.” 

“You think about it too much,” Iruka replied. He fit his hand on Kakashi’s neck and pulled him close with his other arm around his waist. Kakashi allowed one of his arms to wrap around Iruka’s broad shoulders but left the other planted in his thick dark locks. 

They fit together like a puzzle that would never be taken apart and boxed up ever again. Iruka’s breath ghosted over Kakashi’s waiting lips for a single heartbeat and a hint of pressure from Iruka’s fingertips was all it took for that final connection to be made. 

It was a hot kiss with open mouths, and so _so_ tender. Now Kakashi was at a loss and could only follow the paths Iruka took him, listening to his body as he moved it. Where words had failed Iruka, his kiss said it all.

His hand held Kakashi’s neck so gently and his thumb followed his jawline.

_I missed you._

His palm slid over the small of Kakashi’s back to between his shoulder blades, pressing the two shinobi closer together.

_I need you._

His lips moved carefully and slowly, and _deeply_ , relishing the heat, the feel, the luxury of time they still had together. 

_I love you. I love you. I love you._

There was no space between them and he left no option but to stay _just like this_. Iruka was an immovable object and an unstoppable force at the same time.

Kakashi returned those feelings in the strength of his arm around Iruka and the hand petting his hair. If they parted he might die. His heart was a hummingbird in his chest. Konoha was only half of the drive behind his fight when he was away. Without the fiery, caring, passionate, emotional, loving, beautiful chuunin waiting for him at home he couldn’t have been bothered coming home at all. 

They kissed for an eternity, flush against each other, standing in the middle of the living room as unmoving as the schoolyard tree. But they had to divide sometime. 

With a final push of chapped lips against soft ones, Kakashi bookended the contact with a kiss to the corner of Iruka’s mouth. “You have no idea how much I missed you.” 

When he pulled back Iruka had his breath stolen again by his ability to look into two eyes now. If not for that magnificent change it would almost feel like a rainy evening after any normal mission, but with more heady need, desire, _hunger_ , and he felt the thickness of it in the air. 

Clearly Kakashi didn’t feel the same because he tugged at the chocolate hair knotted in his hand and grinned goofily at Iruka. “And I _really_ missed this. I’m relieved it survived, even if tied up.” 

Iruka finally found his voice. 

“Shut up,” Iruka scolded. “I can’t believe that’s the first thing you’re worried about. It’s just hair. Were you thinking about that the whole time? Did it distract you? Is that how you lost your eye, daydreaming about how I style myself and suddenly finding someone’s traded theirs with you?”

Kakashi hummed, fingers kneading at the roots.

“If that’s the case, you can make yourself useful and start tying it up yourself, see how much time it takes to get it right and why it’s _so_ infuriating having you pull it out all the time. Otherwise I’ll cut it all off myself.”

“I’d prefer it to stay just like this,” Kakashi replied as he combed his fingers through it. “I wasn’t going to give you a head’s up on this but…” he had a smarmy grin on his face, “say goodbye to your hair ties.”

Why was he being goaded right now? Honestly, at a time like this. “You’re so stupid,” Iruka said and curled his fingers into Kakashi’s warm shirt. 

Kakashi wrapped his arms around his agitated boyfriend’s lovely middle. “Stupidly in love with someone who doesn’t let his hair down.” He gave him a squeeze. “Let’s get a house together so we’re forced to come up with a compromise.” 

That was a surprise, and Iruka’s tongue froze, stopping him from getting another word out. Again. Holy hell he’d have to have words with himself later.

Kakashi pressed a kiss to his temple; that was two surprises for Iruka today. Coming home and being asked to make a home. “I love you.”

Iruka shook himself out of his stupor, pausing to say “I love you, too,” and giving Kakashi a sweetly searing kiss before continuing to berate him. He didn’t stop even while driving them towards his cozy little bedroom and pulling them both out of their clothes. 

The promise of forever started _right now_ and Iruka wouldn’t let Kakashi distract him a second longer. 

Everything was different and yet nothing had changed. 

Hatake Kakashi was finally _home_. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kikyo (bellflower): unchanging love, honesty, obedience. Known to attract bees and butterflies.


End file.
